Kevin Drum writes for Mother Jones. If you're like most people you've never heard of either Mr. Drum or the magazine for which he writes. Mother Jones is the left wing magazine for the more leftist side of the left wing of the Democrats. During the Cold War, I would have just called it the American outlet for Pravda. Normally, I don't waste my time reading the nonsense that Mr. Drum puts out there on the internet, but today, I saw that he had a piece "explaining" that the support for Donald Trump had nothing to do with the economy. That intrigued me, so I took the time to read what he had to say.
According to Drum, voters aren't all that concerned about the economy. After all, says Drum, the economy is doing pretty good. I should have stopped there since the article was obviously total propaganda rather than anything accurate. The real median income for an American family is lower today than when president Obama took office. Costs are up, but income is down. Since Obama came into office in the middle of a big recession, it's pretty awful that American families are doing worse than they were on his first day in office. Add into this mix the fact that the economy has been growing (according to government figures) at a rate under 2% per year and getting lower, and it's impossible for anyone other than a propagandist to tell us that the economy is "doing pretty good".
Drum goes on to say that according to exit polls Trump voters cite immigration as a reason for voting for him in greater numbers than voters as a group. Further, Trump voters cite the economy slightly less as a reason for voting for Trump than voters as a group. See! Trump voters don't really care about the economy. They're just racists and bigots who want to keep minorities out of the country. But this is just more propaganda. Drum ignores that the reason why many people worry about illegal immigration (not all immigration) is that it provides waves of cheap labor that drives wages down across America. Many of those people whose incomes have declined understand that the reason is the competition from illegals for jobs. For example, laborers on construction jobs used to make a decent living. Now, many contractors just pick up day laborers from the local gathering place illegals seeking work. That is not an isolated example; similar things have happened in many places. Why is the unemployment rate for African American teens so high (roughly 50%)? The answer is that employers are using illegals instead for low paying entry level jobs. The reality is that illegal immigration is to a great extent about the failed economy.
It's also important to add that when Drum calls those who want to enforce the law "bigots" and "racists" he is just using the typical tactics of the far left. There is no rational way to argue that the government should ignore the law (as Obama has been doing), so Drum just falls back on name calling.
It's important to keep all this in mind when listening to the slanted nonsense that many in the media put out there as "reporting" on the political race.
According to Drum, voters aren't all that concerned about the economy. After all, says Drum, the economy is doing pretty good. I should have stopped there since the article was obviously total propaganda rather than anything accurate. The real median income for an American family is lower today than when president Obama took office. Costs are up, but income is down. Since Obama came into office in the middle of a big recession, it's pretty awful that American families are doing worse than they were on his first day in office. Add into this mix the fact that the economy has been growing (according to government figures) at a rate under 2% per year and getting lower, and it's impossible for anyone other than a propagandist to tell us that the economy is "doing pretty good".
Drum goes on to say that according to exit polls Trump voters cite immigration as a reason for voting for him in greater numbers than voters as a group. Further, Trump voters cite the economy slightly less as a reason for voting for Trump than voters as a group. See! Trump voters don't really care about the economy. They're just racists and bigots who want to keep minorities out of the country. But this is just more propaganda. Drum ignores that the reason why many people worry about illegal immigration (not all immigration) is that it provides waves of cheap labor that drives wages down across America. Many of those people whose incomes have declined understand that the reason is the competition from illegals for jobs. For example, laborers on construction jobs used to make a decent living. Now, many contractors just pick up day laborers from the local gathering place illegals seeking work. That is not an isolated example; similar things have happened in many places. Why is the unemployment rate for African American teens so high (roughly 50%)? The answer is that employers are using illegals instead for low paying entry level jobs. The reality is that illegal immigration is to a great extent about the failed economy.
It's also important to add that when Drum calls those who want to enforce the law "bigots" and "racists" he is just using the typical tactics of the far left. There is no rational way to argue that the government should ignore the law (as Obama has been doing), so Drum just falls back on name calling.
It's important to keep all this in mind when listening to the slanted nonsense that many in the media put out there as "reporting" on the political race.
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